Track-by-Track: Cami Clune Considers Her Debut Album ‘should be sleeping’

It might not be obvious to the listener, but Cami Clune has worked her whole life to get to this point. And this point is the release of her debut album, should be sleeping, last month. It’s a very worthwhile debut for a growing artist, showcasing her radio-friendly blend of pop, rock, and country. The songs are very personal, ones that she spent a lot of time on and invested a lot of emotional energy in. They were primarily composed around the summer of 2023. Her first long-term relationship had ended, and she was trying to find a way to guide herself through it. Clune reached a painful truth: the person she believed in was not who she thought they were. This album is her reassembling the pieces and trying to process it all.

should be sleeping features cohesive songwriting and relatable themes. Clune explores topics like heartbreak, hope, nostalgia, and the restless nights that come with life transitions. It’s not all just about looking back, though. These songs have helped her move forward and grow into who she is now. It is like a snapshot of a period of life that shaped her into the person she is today. Whether you’re younger or older, these songs are bound to relate to you, since at one time or another, you have probably experienced the same emotions and feelings.

To learn more about each song on the album, Cami Clune joins us for an exclusive Track-by-Track rundown of should be sleeping.

1. “Screwloose”

“‘Screwloose’ is about reaching the point of emotional exhaustion in a relationship… but realizing the problem might actually be you. It’s the confusion of watching someone fall apart over the ending while you feel relieved, detached, and completely okay, wondering if you’re in denial, if you truly don’t care anymore, or if there’s just something wrong with you. The song begins with a sigh to symbolize that exhaustion, starting soft and reflective before completely spiralling into chaos. It’s fun and catchy on the surface, but underneath it’s brutally honest.

“I actually wrote the hook separately from the verses before realizing they fit perfectly together. Both were written around the same time in 2020 while I was on The Voice, but didn’t come together as a song until 2023. The album was recorded in Nashville with Keegan Ferrell, who also happened to be on a different season of the show than me. I think it’s interesting how sometimes feelings can come out through songwriting before you’ve even fully realized or understood them yourself.”

Cami Clune, photo by Aaron Bobeck

2. “Your Favorite Song”

“‘Your Favorite Song’ is about that complicated feeling of not wanting someone to be yours anymore, but also not wanting them completely off the line. You know the relationship is over, but there’s still a part of you that hates seeing them move on, especially when it’s with the one person you hoped it wouldn’t be. ‘Somebody Else’ by The 1975 was both a song I played often and an ex’s favourite song that I sang, so it felt like the perfect little Easter egg to reference.

“I’ve always loved the ’70s aesthetic, so with the nod to The 1975, it felt like the perfect opportunity to bring that world into the music video. The video starts with me blaming the other girl, but by the end I realize she was never really the villain. The real conflict is accepting that someone who was once such a big part of your life isn’t yours anymore.”

Cami Clune, photo by Josh Roch

3. “Rewind”

“‘Rewind’ is the first song I wrote for this album and the first song I ever wrote completely on my own. I had just started learning guitar, and with the first four chords I learned, all these thoughts I’d been holding in just flowed out. I had a few lines in my notes — ‘Is it possible to rewind the movie?’ and ‘My ship is sinking, and you look like Jack’ — and everything else fell into place.

“I often picture visuals while I’m writing, and this song always felt very nautical, which fit the Titanic references. I’m also a huge film nerd, so the colour grading reference is my way of saying I miss when the relationship felt more vibrant, before everything turned grey. To me, ‘Rewind’ is almost the sadder version of ‘Your Favorite Song,’ the same story, but more reflective and nostalgic.

“I also love the cheeky line about zodiac signs. Some collaborators wondered if it cheapened the song, but I felt like it made the moment more real. There’s this whole culture, especially among girls, around whether certain signs are compatible, while my mom has always thought it was ridiculous. I like how it briefly pulls you away from the bigger metaphors and into that very human feeling of trying to find a reason why something didn’t work.”

4. “Let’s Run Away”

“This is where the album starts to shift. At the time, I was going through the breakup of my first long-term relationship, and soon after found myself in what you’d call a ‘situationship.’ This song explores those fresh feelings of longing and limerence, thinking you’ve found something so perfect that you’d drop everything and change your life for that person. After feeling trapped and stuck for so long, this person brought a fire back in me, to the point where I hoped they’d want to ‘run away’ and start a new life together. At the same time, the song explores their hesitancy while I’m ready to jump right in.

“I brought the initial idea to Nick Chiari, aka Grabbitz, who was a co-writer across most of the album and really helped me bring a lot of these songs to the finish line. Most of ‘Let’s Run Away’ is slow and soft, but toward the end everything starts to build before suddenly pulling back in the final moment. To me, it feels like driving fast or running down a road, with all your cares falling away, until you’re snapped back into reality and realize that ‘running away’ isn’t quite as fun or easy as it sounds.”

Cami Clune ‘should be sleeping’ album artwork

5. “Summer Fantasy”

“‘Summer Fantasy’ continues the story of ‘Let’s Run Away,’ but with the rose-coloured glasses taken off. It’s looking back at the relationship and seeing it for what it really was, rather than the fantasy I had created in my head. There were all these promises and so much love bombing, and I started wondering if maybe it was only ever a fantasy to them, not something they actually saw becoming real.

“It also calls back to that feeling of being stuck and wanting to escape. ‘This city’s cold for most the year, so the heat, it makes us strange’ is a reference to my hometown of Buffalo. We spend a lot of the year in the cold and snow, so that when summer finally comes around, there’s a noticeable shift in energy.

“Sonically, this is one of the moments on the album where some of my subtle country influences come through, especially with the pedal steel played by Matt Kelly (City and Colour). The song sits somewhere between sadness and anger… I’m mad, but not quite ready to fully call the person out yet.

“The music video was actually the first one I ever made, and I’m really proud of how it told the story, pulling from real-life moments while exaggerating others to make it more cinematic. Fittingly for a song tied to Buffalo weather, it took us about six months to finish because we started filming at the end of August and the seasons started changing on us, but it was worth the wait!”

6. “Cute”

“‘Cute’ is where I really let the anger and sarcasm loose. I actually started writing it as a happy, falling-in-love song, but by the time I brought it to my co-writers — Grabbitz and Grant Michaels — I wasn’t quite in the same mood anymore. They had the idea to completely flip it and make it angry, which felt perfect. It’s very tongue-in-cheek and a little more lighthearted than the rest of the album.

“Sonically, this song really brings back the pop-rock side of the album. Guitar was a huge part of the sound I wanted throughout the record, and  ‘Cute’ really leans into that with the guitar solo building into the outro. It concludes with this trash-can-drum ending because I wanted it to feel like I’d just said everything I wanted to say live and ended it with a bang.”

7. “To The Grave”

“‘To the Grave’ really feels like a stream of consciousness that ends with a mic drop. I had the beginning finished for a while but couldn’t quite figure out how to end it. Then my guitarist/boyfriend came up with some chords, and once I heard them, everything I wanted to say just started flowing. This is the song where I feel like I completely let my guard down. It became almost like my ‘letter’ to this person.

“Similar to ‘Let’s Run Away,’ the song keeps building toward the end, but this time it just gets bigger and angrier until everything suddenly pulls back for the final line. Instead of being snapped back into reality, though, this time it feels final… like I’d said everything I needed to say, dropped the mic, and was finally done.”